Dystopian Future
by hu-0009
Summary: The prompt I chose was "One vision of the future is of a bleak and oppressive world, filled with fear. It is a world so hopeless that is seems impossible for humanity to survive". I interpreted it as an oppressive world filled with fear where it is questionable whether humanity will survive. This is the reason I decided to base my narrative on a zombie apocalypse.


The cool, chilly breeze of a winter morning made me shiver as I plunged my clenched fists in to the warm depths of my pockets. It was dark, very dark. Well of course it would be at 6am in the morning. Huddled over with my overcoat protecting me from the harsh wind, I began my journey to work. The dull yellow of the lights struggled to illuminate the grey, overused cobblestone road that lead to the subway entrance. The streets were deserted. Strange one would think for a city like New York. In the subway, animals lined the walls begging for food and money, some even trying to entertain the few disinterested commuters present with old folk songs and tricks.

The rundown, graffiti covered train arrived three minutes late as expected on the dilapidated tracks, which were in no condition to be used. Inside the carriage, there were a four people. Most, like me, were headed to work where they would take abuse from their higher ups for the rest of the day. I sat down in the corner of the carriage, keeping an eye on the others just in case they were infected. The lights in the carriage flickered ominously. The train slowed down, its worn-out brakes screeching to a halt. A man or what was left of him entered the carriage. The stench was unbearable. Immediately the man closest to him drew a handgun, probably a Colt 45 judging by its sleek shape, and with no hesitation at all, fired. The sound was deafening. The bullet entered the creature's skull at phenomenal speed. It was dead within a split second, the bullet-hole between its eyes. The burly man who had fired the gun clambered to his feet and threw the corpse out the carriage before the train departed.

I was used to it by now. The infected being killed I meant. It had started a month ago when the government "accidentally" leaked a biological weapon in the form of an airborne virus. I remember to this day about a week prior to the leakage of this virus, how a famous talk-show host talked about how "People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." It made me wonder whether this may possibly be a form of retaliation against this statement, an attempt to make the people fear the government. I also remember how a few days prior to the leak, the government had said "Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it." Following this, an airborne virus was said to have accidentally leaked in to the general public. At first, the disease was thought to have been contained to a region of suburbs, but alas, it had spread. The epidemic was global. Everyone wore masks these days to try and protect themselves from the virus. I didn't though. I always thought that if "you [wore] a mask for so long, you [would] forget who you were beneath it". Of course the government had found a scapegoat in the form of the laboratory that was ordered to design the virus for its release. The virus worked by first killing you and then restarting the brain stem, allowing for movement but nothing else, effectively transforming a human being in to a zombie. That's why most of New York was deserted. The only human beings left were either holed up at home or headed to work in the heart of the city at the CDC (Centre for Disease Control). Ever since the crisis, everyone who had a little medical, laboratory or handy skills were moved to work in the CDC in an attempt to try to find a cure for the disease.

At last we reached the final station on the line, the closest station to the CDC. Since the encounter with the zombie, nothing eventful had occurred. No one had left the train and no one had got on, it was just the five of us. Cautiously, I reached for my own pistol and drew it from its holster on my hip. It's cool metal was curiously comforting and reassuring. I immediately moved towards the group by which point I had completely assessed them and made sure they weren't infected. Similarly, they all carried their own guns. Without uttering a single word, the group moved in to formation covering each other with their handguns as if it was a common routine they underwent each morning. Slowly and carefully, we made our way out of the subway and down the street towards the CDC. At this point the sun had risen and daylight began to shine down upon the uninhabited streets of New York. It was rare to see zombies in this part of town simply because of the presence of the army, protecting the CDC. They had killed of hundreds of thousands of zombies who had attempted to break through the centres defences.

The CDC was a large building with only one entrance and one exit. Each time you entered, you were given an oxygen tablet to swallow. Immediately after, oxygen is sucked out of the room by a vacuum causing any presence of the virus to die. You then enter a separate chamber where you are decontaminated and oxygen is supplied. I could see the CDC now. We were a block away, crossing the final street between us and the CDC, when we came across a herd of zombies. Starving from no meal for the past week or so, the sight of us made them charge at us as fast as their legs could move. Untrained and unprepared we panicked. We immediately began to fire at the zombies, loosing precious ground between us. After ten seconds of shooting, we realised that we would run out of bullets well before we could kill them all and also that even if we kept firing, they would still get closer. Upon realisation, we bolted headed for the confines of the CDC where what's left of the army could protect us. But it was too late. They were too close. We were all going to die. Suddenly, the burly man who had shot the zombie on the train turned his gun upon the man running the slowest. Once again, he fired, this time at the legs dropping the man to his knees and thus making him unable to walk let alone run. Within seconds they were all over him. This man had used one of his fellow colleagues and human beings as a diversion to save his own life. Of course because of this we made it to the CDC alive but it still haunted me and made me ponder what a hopeless world we live in and whether humanity would even be able to survive.


End file.
